Police charge man with carrying stolen gun

A Hanover Township man is in custody after police caught him with an allegedly stolen gun following a fight Monday.

Otis Jermaine Crowder, 40, is charged with felony counts of receiving stolen property and carrying a firearm without a license, and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct.

According to police, officers went to 1429 S. Main St. on a report of two men fighting, only to find that the men had left the scene in separate vehicles and resumed the fight on Bunker Drive.

When police arrived, Crowder pulled out a loaded .22 caliber handgun with nine additional rounds in the magazine and threw it into a nearby field.

Police arrested Crowder and the man he was fighting with, 35-year-old Bubacarr Cham. Police said the two men got into a heated argument on South Main Street over a dispute involving their children. Police said Crowder allegedly hit Cham in the arm with a bat, then, when the argument continued on Bunker Drive, Crowder pulled the gun on Cham.

The Morton, Delaware County, police department reported the weapon had been stolen in their jurisdiction, police soon learned.

Crowder was arraigned overnight by Magisterial District Judge Daniel O'Donnell at Luzerne County Correctional Facility and kept there when he couldn't post $25,000 cash bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. May 7 in front of Magisterial District Judge Joseph Halesey.

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